What's My Line? - Louella Parsons (Nov 15, 1953)
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- čas přidán 27. 11. 2014
- MYSTERY GUEST: Louella Parsons
PANEL: Dorothy Kilgallen, Steve Allen, Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf
Many thanks, as always, to epaddon for providing his copy of this episode!
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![What's My Line? - Julius LaRosa; Victor Borge [panel] (Feb 14, 1954)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/G2pjP5L_AdE/mqdefault.jpg)
I have heard of Loella Parsons all my life but this is the first time I ever saw her.
The first guest Ben Essrig died in 1992. His wife Anne died in 1999.
Very difficult position for Dorothy: Had she guessed Hedda Hopper, the studio would have erupted. A single favorable comment about Marion Davies gave Parsons a life-long professional career.
The mermaid was adorable.
If there's one thing I've learned from watching GSN's reruns of WML, it's that the shows actually look better here. Analog television being what it was, you can tell somehow the show has not aged all that gracefully, while here on YT, the picture's absolutely flawless.
The "New" Official Channel of KennyRockSableThe1st ...,and of course, half an hour prior to them being committed to film (by filming the image on another studio monitorj) they'll have looked WAY on the watching audience's TVs while they were being broadcast. In addition I have to say whenever they re-broadcast analog television from my era (the 70s and much of the 80s) it looks a good sight worse than it did at the time. I remember smooth, clear, robust and sharp images (live or on videotape as opposed to on film) of almost all TV shows, films and documentaries but digital processing and the medium we watch it on these days doesn't do it justice, giving the wrong impression of what it was like.
Arlene Francis is the epitome of sophistication, style and class.
Louella Parsons, on the other hand, was a scumbag!
John's face with the mermaid questions is priceless.
It seems to me that the reluctance of the police patrol wagon driver to confirm Bennett's description of his job is more about his "passengers" than about the type of vehicle he drives. A patrol wagon carries arrested *suspects* to a local jail and/or to arraignment where they may be charged and held for trial. Only if they are convicted of a crime do they become *prisoners.*
Louella was 72 on this broadcast.
looks good for 72
Question to the contestant who drove a police patrol vehicle: Is this product something a housewife would want to get rid of? I laughed out loud at that one.
Not a patrol car, a paddy wagon that carries a group of criminals to jail.😊
I was 45 days old when this came out
I was 7 months old
i wasn't born yet.
Aw
I was about 60 days old.
I was 3 years old.
My favorite lines in this --
Dorothy: "Can a writer be in public life?"
Arlene: "Well, you're a writer. Are YOU in public life?" I would think the answer to that would be yes.
Also: 23:50 "Oh, what a spot to be in! There are two of them in town." Fortunately Dorothy was reminded that Hedda Hopper had already been a mystery guest ... It would really have made Louella angry to have her rival's name guessed.
When had Hedda Hopper been a MG? From the shows that are in this channel I gather that she only was featured after 1956. But then there are all those lost programmes...
Hedda was on twice...4/22/56 & 4/22/62
IMDb also lists Hedda as an MG in 4/29/51 Oddly, Arlene wasn't there. Panelists were Dorothy, Bennett, Hal, and Constance Moore
@@neilmidkiff lmao
Love the "shades" on the second challenger. Was wondering if the bright studio lights bothered her eyes, but when she took them off after sitting down, perhaps it was just a fashion statement.
She was from San Francisco! nuff said :)
With the dark glasses she reminded me of Edith Head
@Lars Rye Jeppesen the gayest city in the states back then.
@@peternagy-im4be: No it was not! You'd like to believe that! The Black Cat for example a famous bar was raided by police many times!!! Among many other events! Things were not open then even in San Francisco California!!!
@@peternagy-im4be It was actually still fairly conservative in those days.
He should have flipped all the cards for Mr. Essrig. His jokes are the reason Bennett Cerf zeroed in on transporting humans so quickly.
Yes, I agree about John Daly’s heavy “hinting jokes” aiding/helping Bennett Cerf in figuring out the job/career of the contestant Mr. Essrig. Sometimes John Daly inadvertently helps the panelists. The LIVE studio audiences were the worst about giving away/helping the panelists figure out the jobs/careers of some of the contestants, and I wished that the LIVE studio audiences were not allowed to see the jobs/careers, but ONLY allow the people at home watching this show on their TV sets, let them alone see what all of the contestants do for their livings.
G & T were too cheap to let Daly flip all the cards unless it was a pretty woman, sometimes even though the money was pledged to a charity like the heart fund.
Daly was so sexist. He would have flipped all the cards if it was a pretty woman. A prison shuttle is not a paddy wagon
This show demonstrates superbly Daly’s sexism re flipping all the cards. Quite the opposite, he often cheats male contestants out of NO answers.
First time none of the guests took the _walk of shame_ . John said they were going to “depart from our usual custom.” The walk resumed the following week.
Thank you for showing this.i am a fan of louella parsons.
What's My Line must be played in Nursing homes, and if not shame on the establishment. ✌💖
Among the careers that Louella attempted to ruin was that of Lee Patrick, beloved in such films as The Maltese Falcon, Auntie Mame and so many others. Patrick's husband, Tom Wood, a journalist, once wrote a magazine article which was very critical of Parsons; so Louella took revenge by reportedly having Patrick blackballed in Hollywood.
Dorothy put the puzzle together within the last ten seconds!
The background applause when Louella signed in sounded as if a car were driving in rain between underpasses.
It really sounds like heavy rain. 17:50
The audio track is poor quality
Patrick3183 The VHS tape this was transferred from had tracking problems. I did the best I could with what I had available. I'm just glad to have a watchable copy of the show.
I think we should all assume that every video you've uploaded to the WML channel is the best quality you have available. You certainly wouldn't upload a poorer quality video if you had a better one, after all. I think in many cases, even when there are significant and noticeable dropouts (as is the case with some episodes), we're lucky to have them, given the relative lack of commitment anyone had back in the day to preserving each episode for posterity. I remember a recent complaint, for example, where someone was a bit annoyed that there was sound coming out of only one of two stereo speakers on his computer. For some reason, the video copy only had a right-channel soundtrack and not a left-channel one. Not that big a deal in my view, since none of these episodes was ever broadcast in stereo -- that didn't exist with television during the years WML was on the air and for some years after that. So if monaural sound is coming out of just one speaker, it's not as if you aren't hearing everything there is to hear. (It might be annoying to have on a pair of stereo headphones or earbuds and have the sound coming out of just one side, but with speakers, I just couldn't complain.)
+What's My Line?
When the MG is receiving her applause, it looked like an intricate patching job of the sound track, sometimes no more than a second or two, and occasionally the VCR banner ("video - EP - Ch 3") appeared. That must have been painstaking work. Much kudos specifically for that and in general for all the videos you post.
I bet Bennett had seen lots of "Mermaid in Fishbowl" in different Nightclubs... :) 16:50
Johan Bengtsson Glad you said that even though I know you were implying he liked what he'd seen in certain establishments. :)
I was about to comment that it absolutely stunk of him knowing her profession beforehand but if it could've been a fad or trend in Manhattan at the time, especially where Serf may have frequented, then that figures.
@@davidsanderson5918No one got a heads up on the guests!😊
Contestant "Mr. Essrig" has the demeanor more like an Undertaker than a patrol wagon driver
+Galileocan g
I thought he looked like a mad scientist's henchman! That's what would have come to my mind if I'd been doing the "wild guesses" at the beginning, but I'm sure I wouldn't have said it, because it's not a very flattering impression. I didn't think he was "miserable," though, +Mark Richardson. He even smiled a couple of times (and looked much more pleasant when he did). It was just that he was very specific and particular about the true details of his job description.
Digger O'dell
He didn't know how to smile.
Galileocan g what kind of personality does a driver of a patrol wagon have?
Galileocan g - That is what I thought.
With the second contestant, woman who worked in the nightclub, when Bennett Cerf asked her if people who came bought something, that should have been answered with a yes response, because those people who came surely bought food AND/OR drinks.
Dorothy looks especially beautiful in this episode!!! Simply glowing! (she was pregnant with her son Kerry here, was she not?)
If she could have taken one inch off her forehead and put it on her chin she would have been very beautiful.
Magdalena Maj - Kerry Kollmar was born March 19, 1954, so yes she was about five months pregnant here!
Roger Propes I happen to find Unique things about people very attractive....to cookie cutter beauty...
so her son was only 11 when she was killed?
@@kristabrewer9363 Her son was 11 when Dorothy died but she was not killed and it is false to state as a fact otherwise. The Manhattan DA reopened the investigation into her death in 2019, found new evidence you have not seen, and declined to prosecute. Dorothy died of an overdose of alcohol and barbituates. There was no foul play. Case closed.
The MG segment is one of many examples of why it is often impossible to credit one specific panelist with the solve. In this case, the person with the solve was actually stumped until another called for a conference to provide the key clue. And that was the perfect time to call for a conference. The panelist who figured it out knew that unless someone passed or solved, the questioning would not come around to them again. (Names of panelists deliberately omitted to avoid spoilers as much as possible in this case.)
John sounded like he was possessed when he began to introduce the mystery guest segment.
Parsons has more charm in her little finger than all of them put together. Look at the way she bounded over to the panel, the fur stole draped across a shoulder; the warmth of the way she shook hands and embraced Dorothy Kilgallen. Hedda had the looks but Parson had the passion. Had it until the day she passed.
They both were busybody gossips who destroyed people's lives for pleasure. Throw a dead animal on one and convince yourself its glamour.
@@sharksport01 Puttin on the dog??!! My dog wore me. I did not wear him. He used to climb on my back, throw his paws around my neck, flop his head on my shoulder and pretend to be a fur stole. LOL!
@@sharksport01 They were historians. No better, no worse.
@@sandrashevey8252 she was a nasty evil witch.
Louella Parsons looked so forbidding and dour -- until she smiled and laughed.
I noticed the same thing about Eleanor Roosevelt.
Today's CZcams Rerun for 12/22/15: Watch along and join the discussion!
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Narvelan Coleman Glad you're enjoying the shows! Yes, every available episode has been posted to this channel, including a few that were never part of the TV rerun package because the Goodson-Todman archive had no print. But, no, Glenn Ford was never on the CBS series. It's possible he was on the daily, syndicated series that followed the CBS run, but that's not really my area.
Just for future reference, though, you can find specific episodes very easily from the main channel page. There are chronological playlists to help people find shows by date, and if you're looking for a specific person, you can use the search box on the channel page and just type in the name.
This is the main channel page: czcams.com/channels/hPE75Fvvl1HmdAsO7Nzb8w.html
Sorry I couldn't point you to the Glenn Ford episode. . . but there isn't one. :)
She walks off in the wrong direction?
I miss the fifties and I was born in 1978
Louella looked like she was having a bit of a reunion with Dorothy with no regard for the clock. Which got me wondering, since WML was live, were they ever cut off for being long? During all those years they must have been interrupted for bulletins. Would they continue on taping or kinescoping the show? I wonder if it ever was the case that they would have to do a new show for the west coast on the same night for any reason.
There was a show which appeared to have run long and it ended before the goodnights. I seem to remember that John did the "We'll be back after this message from our sponsor." But that was the end. And the total time of the show was the same or near to the same as others, so it looks like they just got behind and ran out of time. Just in my opinion, I don't think the show was ever interrupted for a news bulletin. It seems to me that in those days, it would take a very big event to interrupt a network show. I was a viewer in the '60s (born '49). This is just my sense about it from what I remember. I don't think there was ever a new show done for the west coast. If that had been done, certainly there would have been mention of it in the various WML blogs (TV.com for example) which have been around for years. And that would be particularly noteworthy but I've never heard of anything like that.
49yt And while it's not unthinkable, I would expect there weren't a lot of truly important news items breaking at 10:30PM Sunday nights that would have required breaking into the program time.
I think it was part of John Daly's job to keep the show to time. When the panel was taking too long he would wind up the questioning. And although there were normally only three guests, if they got through the first three quickly he would bring on a fourth.
With live TV, sometimes a segment at the end needed to be stretched and other times cut short. By the Louella Parsons was signing in, it was around the 17:30 mark, relatively late in the proceedings. And since it took a while to guess her and she greeted the panel, there was no time for a fourth guest. So they probably needed to stretch it there. Plus, my recollection is that there was a commercial inserted at that point, which didn't necessarily need an introduction. While off camera, they could have told the two ladies to continue their conversation after the end of the program.
Lois Simmons Louella was fat too. Fat as that stove over there in the corner. But she could sing!
John and the panel are starting to look more like their late 50's, early 60's selves.
Not only look but also "act" like their late 50's and early 60's selves. They're so much more comfortable than they were in the early shows. It makes for so much more of a relaxed and fun atmosphere which probably helped the show last the 17 years it did.
Times have changed.
Louella Parsons was hated by many - and wow she has a mean look
Nick Doe - Yeah, I have a vague memory of Louella Parsons not being so well liked by my parents.
Interesting, CD talks about a "famous guest challenger" rather than the later "mystery guest."
It was announced that comedian Roseanne Barr will portray the role of Louella Parsons in a biography drama film called Bogie And Bacall, which is expected to be released in 2016.
Who are going to play Bogart and Bacall?
Ben and Jerry.
+Joe Postove
She'd have to deepen her voice significantly to be convincing in that role!
+SaveThe TPC
Louella Parsons has already been portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor ("Malice in Wonderland") and Jennifer Tilly ("The Cat's Meow"). I would think that Roseanne Barr would be more spot on than them.
However, a look at Roseanne's IMDB page doesn't show anything about that movie, either released or in progress. IMDB does have a page for the movie listed as "in production since 3/8/2015, with a status unknown. Among the cast members listed, Roxana Condurache is cast to play Miss Bacall; no one has been cast to play Bogie or Parsons.
Lois Simmons How about digging up Pearl Mesta for Louella Parsons? That would be The Most, Man!
Seems to me Arlene's hair is lighter -- or it's because I've watched so many videos in a row my vision is blurry.
in just the past few episodes, Arlene's hair has gotten lighter and Bennett's has gotten darker
Scrolled through every single comment to see if anybody elaborated on what Bennett was going for in introducing John the odd way he did. Anybody know?
In 1953, Bennett Cerf's publishing house, Random House, published a book by Quentin Reynolds called 'The Man Who Wouldn't Talk'. It must be a reference to that, but I'm afraid I don't understand the joke.
This episode has two "close" free guesses: moving van driver for the patrol wagon driver, and bubble dancer for the mermaid. For both, John seems to signal to the panel that one of them is on the right track by describing the guesses as "interesting" (3:02) or "once again, interesting" (10:37). One would have to review the episodes with this in mind to see if this is really a pattern; it occurred to me now because of two near guesses in the same program.
Just a coincidence 😊
I thought most of her movie roles were cameos. Does anyone know what picture Miss Parson's was the leading lady?
The closest I can think of is Hollywood Hotel ('37), although I'd hardly call her a leading lady in it; she played herself, as she did in every other on-screen appearance I can recall!
@@jazzvampire Hedda Hopper, her biggest rival, was a former actress- good enough to have appeared with Garbo and Stroheim in 'As You Desire Me'.
Why was John Charles Daly answering all the questions of the first contestant? He did that a lot.
At about 11:48 Bennett asks "when they come to you (the fish lady) do they come to buy something"? The answer was no, but shouldn't it have been yes? They come to buy foo, drink and entertainment at the night where she entertains.
But they don't buy something from her personally.
Johan Bengtsson Hmmmmm, I see what you're saying. But it could have gone either way.
Get a life !
@@josephhaynes3017Back at'cha
Dorothy had a very good question after that mermaid contestant. She asked “she wears a suit?” I was wondering the same thing; how could she wear regular street clothes as a mermaid?
Were Louella and Hedda friends, enemies, or something in between?
Joe - According to David Niven, they hated each other's guts !!
Straight up enemies. Especially on Louella's end who took it more personally. Hopper said some pretty rude things about Louella's urologist husband that really pissed her off
@@gugurupurasudaikirai7620 The TV movie 'Malice in Wonderland' is quite an amusing if somewhat exaggerated yarn about the wartime feud between Louella and Hedda. Liz Taylor as Parsons, Jane Alexander as Hopper.
Those two old bats loathed each other!!!!!!!!!!!!
The question about that mermaid wearing her suit made no sense or I should say the answer didn’t make sense that she wore or didn’t wear different clothing.
At about 16:40 Arlene asked if Miss Conway wore a costume or something other than a suit, meaning a suit of the type Miss Conway was wearing, and got a no. I don’t think she should have gotten a no on that. At the end of the segment Arlene still seems perplexed by that no. As am I. And at 22:41 Arlene is still questioning how Miss Conway does what she does wearing clothes like she wore to appear on the show.
Jan Anderson It is Dorothy @ 17:30 who exclaims, “She wears a suit?” not Arlene.
What makes you think she wore anything at all?
"Bimbo's 365 Club, also known as Bimbo's 365, is an entertainment club located at 1025 Columbus Avenue in San Francisco... An optical illusion achieved by mirrors made the large fish tank above the bar appear to have a nude woman swimming in it."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimbo's_365_Club
No water involved, she did her " swimming" behind a glass globe.😊
This was never clarified: Did the mermaid wear a fishtail "suit?" Is that what they meant? Was she in a waterless environment with lighting giving the illusion she was in water? Which nighttime establishment did she work in?
At the end of her segment, Mr. Daly says that she is not in the water itself, but in some sort of "refractive/reflective [unintelligible]"
The thing that always frustrated me with this show is that the panel sometimes asks 4 questions at a time - they should have been restricted to one question at a time.
The producers came around to your point of view and changed the rules for the mystery guest round to one question at a time in rotation. This happened in April 1955 if I remember correctly.
DRIVES POLICE PATROL WAGON
MERMAID IN FISH BOWL IN NIGHTCLUB ACT
So was the old gossip witch deaf? Daly had to repeat the questions for her.
A lot of jobs that don’t exist any more…
Parsons was Hearst's personal muckraker. Slimy.
I found Louella Parsons' mannerism of frequently ducking down low, almost turtle-like, to be rather odd. Didn't make her a bad person. Just something I noticed. But I can imagine that if she did that in real life while having a conversation, it might be disconcerting to the other person.
She was trying to listen to the questions asked!😊
I think Louella had quite a load on when this was taped.
Did they depart with the "walk of shame" for just this show, or was this the end of it?
I think it is noted in TV.com with which shows they ended "the walk" and the free guesses. I'm not sure if they ended both at the same time or at different times. But I want to say 1956 from what I remember. Of course, one could determine the answer also by jumping around and sampling numerous shows using the playlist feature of this YT channel. It might be that one or both were phased out, rather than abruptly ending with a particular show. I say that because I seem to remember seeing a show where they didn't do either the walk or the free guesses, but then in the next show they were back to it again.
49yt It sounds like they were trying it out.
49yt Without checking all the shows from the summer of 1956, I would imagine that while the 5/13/56 may have been the very last program to ever feature the Walk of Shame, they had more or less dispensed with it, with little fanfare, by the time of the show aired on 3/25/56. An occasional segment in the weeks that followed still featured the walk down the panel, but rarely. (I once took the time to look back at the shows themselves to determine this for myself.)
Too bad such a venomous gossip columnist as Louella Parsons had such a pretty smile
I wish this was in color to see Dorothy’s dress better.
Lowell’s did sound like Marjorie Main
Dorothy Kilgqllen tries to get mystery guest to repeat themselves to hear their voice again🙄
Jeez, Louella Parsons wouldn't be working Entertainment Tonight, I'll tell ya.
True! But TMZ would snap her up in hot minute.
Steve Allen was obviously given a prepared list of staged questions to ask. Fake segments like that always sadden me😕. I am so glad they finally became more "genuine" in their questioning!
Agree. I think he was much funnier when he wasn’t using prepared gag lines.
@@dutchtea8354 No one was given information ahead of time 😮
This is one where Mr. Cerf told on his own self. I believe he had prior knowledge of Mr. Essrig occupation because in a interview producers would give him hints who was gonna be on the show. So the fact Bennett thought he had it in the bag and didn't know what else to say.....Rigged!
Nah, that happened lots of times, did obviously didn't know the precise phrase they were supposed to guess.
It seems Cerf was cheating on this one, maybe managed to wheedle out the week's professions from one of the shows workers. I think Daly could tell, gave the first guest an extra $10 and the second guest he flips all of the cards as Bennett just magically guesses it right as it becomes his turn and time is running out
Daly's explanations take too long.
She looks and sounds drunk.......
Steve Allen's stalling gets on my nerves. John almost always goes to him first and I firmly believe he is fed lines to get the audience to laugh.
Up until the game show scandal of the 1950s, someone from WML indicated to Hal Block (who was a panelist on earlier shows) and to Steve Allen (and maybe others, for all I know; supposedly, the show never provided panelists with the occupation of a guest) a line of questions that might lead to laughs. After another game show was associated with rigging of some sort, this show apparently stopped such practices.
"Do You Demonstrate, Something ,?.."
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When god created humans, this dude was left behind on the humour conveyer belt
Thanks for the invaluable contribution to the video
@@peternagy-im4be😅